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[av_heading heading=’CHO: SOME BUCK ZIKA SPRAYING
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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO City – Some households in Barangay Benedicto, Jaro district refused “inside residual spraying” to get rid of Aedes mosquitoes that transmit Zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses.
Dr. Bernard Caspe, City Health Office (CHO) chief, placed the number of sprayed households at “88 percent” as of Sunday.
The Department of Health (DOH) considers Barangay Benedicto a high-risk area for Zika, dengue, and chikungunya.
The inside residual spraying started on Sept. 16.
Caspe deployed some CHO staff to convince the remaining households to allow the spraying.
Inside residual spraying is the application of long-acting chemical insecticides on the walls and roofs of houses and domestic animal shelters in a given area to kill the adult vector mosquitoes that land and rest on these surfaces.
“Kun may balay nga mabilin kag magtuhaw naman ang problema, ang City Health naman ang basulon,” said Caspe.
Three residents of Barangay Benedicto tested positive for the Zika virus.
The first case was a 45-year-old housewife. She was the country’s sixth Zika case since 2012. The two other cases in Barangay Benedicto were the housewife’s household members.
Today, Caspe said, CHO will also start “vector surveillance” in 10 barangays with the most number of dengue cases.
“We might start at Gran Plains Subdivision (Barangay MV Hechanova) and Alta Tierra Village (Barangay Quintin Salas),” said Caspe. These are all in Jaro district.
The CHO may also conduct indoor spraying if the surveillance shows that mosquitoes there are also Aedes, said Caspe.
Other barangays with high dengue cases are Balabago, Sambag and MH Del Pilar in Jaro; Bakhaw, Bolilao and Guzman-Jesena in Mandurriao; Jereos in La Paz; and Calaparan in Arevalo.
The resistance to inside residual spraying came at a time when DOH urged travelers and residents of the region to be cautious. Dr. Marlyn Convocar, DOH regional director, said travelers exhibiting Zika-like symptoms two to seven days after having been to Iloilo should see a doctor.
Symptoms of Zika infection include skin rashes, fever, redness of the eyes, and joint pains.
DOH advised pregnant women in any trimester to consider postponing travel to Iloilo. Zika is connected to a neurological birth disorder called microcephaly (babies with smaller heads and developmental issues).
Dengue and chikungunya have symptoms similar to Zika but of the three diseases, dengue is fatal, according to DOH./PN
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